While on hiatus one day
iwitness from the viewing at the Reagan Library, Monday, June 7, 2004
transcribed notes & observations
3-5,000 people in line at the remote site from where viewers were shuttled when i got there about 1:30pm monday. line took about an hr and 3/4, about 45 mins to get back. by that time the line could have been 10,000, but was impossible to see the end of.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
spent most my time talking w/ a family vacationing (tour of ballparks) from minnesota, the dad had voted for mondale--thinking mondale would have been better for minnesota than reaganspending the day doing my best trying to keep my politics to myself, i didn't share w/ him the speculation upon the odds of 2 mondale voters standing side-by-side in that line.coincidentally they had been to the nixon library saturday. mom had asked about the enemies list ... docents acted as if they'd never heard of such a thing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
i spent the day avoiding tv cameras, lest someone ask me what i thought about the guy. tho i had an answer prepared ("mom said, if you can't say something nice....") still for some reason, i had 2 tv reporters stick a camera toward me. i had to vigorously shake my head and look away, giving any number of the the crowd who were anxious to get facetime the chance.1st time, the family of minnesotans in front of me were interviewed. next, a kid a couple people behind me was interviewed: kid aged 12 waxed on about the 'great man.' interviewer pointed out he'd have no personal recollection, yes? wax off.another up the row, stuck his face to an ABC affiliate's camera just to tell them he didn't want to talk to them "since ABC didn't have anything good to say about him when he was alive" .... ? this was a guy in a hole-sick 9/11 t-shirt untucked over his belly and short pants.
there were plenty who dressed up for the event. sadly much of that proved that there is little things a man can do to look sillier than to wear nice clothes --suits, shirts, slacks --- that they obviously hadn't worn in a long long long timeclearly a nostaglia vibe, one family going so far to be dressed in vintage clothes (aged mid 30s w/ preteen daughter & dressed in psuedo 1940s clothes -- dad's being a too small felt fedora [LA daytime?!?!] and a too small black sportcoat and black slacks [not a suit, different colors black]; mom in a period dress, very stylish-- with all sorts of folks having a pin or button or hat or shirt or jacket that heralded back to some Americana connection -- military mainly -- or GOP election or nominating convention.
mainly it was t-shirts emblazoned w/ bits of americana. one woman wore a shirt printed in the manner of the 'got milk?' campaign. "got land?" it said on the front, the obverse: "thank an indian"
~~~~~~~~~~~~
cops of every flavor, reserves most likely: LA & ventura county sheriffs; simi & moorpark & LA city police; CHP; ... on each bus, at almost every intersection, w/ mototcycle cops escorting busses early on, tho later not. probably too many busses to escort each.
metal detectors and no cameras allowed, no cell cameras allowed. they allowed cell fones but only if turned off. no radios. only small purses, diaper bags were the only large bags let through.circulated in line, vague descriptions of the rules caused a lot of confusion by the time people got to the frontdepending where you were in line, you got a bagged copy of sunday's LA times, the ventura county star, or 7oz bottles water, or all 3, depending.
the radio was saying there'd be no picture taking inside the viewing area and only small camera bags. once in line a handout said no camera bags. once you got to the front of the line, they said no cameras at all. the family front of me panicked and dad ran off and stashed their camera in the bushes
and no large bags. yet the bagged copy of the newspapers were ok, the bottled water was not.
i had forgotten that i had a Leatherman utility tool (like a swiss army knife) that i always carry. i got to the front of the line and asked them to stash it with the other stuff others had stashed there. the guards said: we can't guarantee it; i said: there are no guarantees, i trust you; they said: it's not us, it's the others... i looked around and behind the tables and barricades, uniforms outnumbered the civilians about 20:1.... what others?
when i got back, there was a line of a few people trying to retrieve the items they had dumped in the pile behind the barricade. 2 senior citizens were hoping to get back a wallet, yes a wallet. i don't know why they'd have to give up a wallet. they described it and the guy (extraordinarily tall w/ a face like a cartoon character dog, 6-7 250lbs) came back apologetically saying he can't believe any of his guys would throw it away, maybe by accident, but he couldn't account for it not being there. they started to wade through the trash cans, overfilled w/ 1/2ful water bottles.
i described by utility knife "like a swiss army knife,'' using my hands to mime its size and the opening unfolding action ''it's orange." his head tilted in a cartoon dog kinda way, "metallic orange not day-glo orange" ... nothing... "like a boat" and he's off to find it, squats in front of the pile and stands and comes right back
"do you know how many orange knives there are?"
... "uhhhh no idea"...
"what's printed on the side?"
.... "leatherman" ...
"what's printed on the other side?"
.... (i didn't remember) "i don't remember" (juice, the model) ...
he dropped in my hand, saying "that's nice, i like that."
... "me too, that's why i wanted it back."
on my way back to the car, i could see a dozen cameras stashed among the bushes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
there were buses from various transit districts lined up, and charter buses, all called into service to shuttle people the few miles to the library.
thru-out LA, maybe elsewhere too i dunno, buses are covered with adverts for this coming weekend's season debut of the HBO series "six feet under" with taglines like "every day above ground is a good one" and "some day we'll all be six feet under"those buses, of course, had those ads on them as they shuttled viewers to the library at back to moorpark college
~~~~~~~~~
insane behavior on the freeway getting there:
a few miles from the offramp the line of cars was on the shoulder, leaving the 2 lanes of the freeway open. (pritdarn unusual action for an LA-area fwy) considering the 1,000s of cars it was an astonishinly well-behaved row of cars... all-in-all... it was funny to watch folks w/ plastic fish on their rear bumpers cutting into the miles-long line and blocking the freeway for others on the roadway
a surprisingly few locals knew to head to the next offramp and head back on surface streets, or to come in from the other direction.
tho the library officials have announced the extension of hrs for viewing (from 6 til 10pm tuesday) they said you had to be in line by 3pm. unless that line included the line of cars there were gonna be scads of angry mourners
~~~~~~~~
newsradio during the walking pace drive up the hill to moorpark college had a report that began with the diversity of the crowd waiting for the shuttles to the library: infants to teens to adults to senior citizens, blacks & whites & asians & latinos have all come to pay their respects to the former president .... etc.
when i got there monday, and during the about 3 hrs i was on site, in my best guess based on nothing more than my observations, there were not 20 african americans in line (plenty in uniforms, working) and people under age 55 were probably in the lowest 30 percentile (not counting those in uniforms, working) and most of them were among families w/ more aged members.
the mood of people was generally subdued but hardly funerary... at least until we reached the library, and then only specifically in the room of the viewing. even the press fotogs, on a raised platform off to the side made no chatter between them. they were shooting a lot, they must have had only a few minutes in there before they were rotated out to the herd cordoned off in the media village that always accompanies big events these days. the major difference being there was no comingling of press and people at the library site.
~~~~~~~~~~
the honor guard was unearthly still. wax figures couldn't have been so stationary. the soldier from the army, was actually blinking. the marine had his eyes shut -- as if in deep concentration "please don't let me move, please don't let me move, please don't let me move, please don't let me move"the flag on the casket had more life than the honor guardthe flow of people was moving consistently at a saunter, you had no more than maybe 45 seconds in the room for the viewing.
i had been in line, on a bus, in line again for about 2 1/2 hrs and just as i'm entering the viewing room, a woman staff member asks if i'd mind if some local officials can step in... it's US congressman elton gallegly & wife and i guess his daughter & husband. congress has its priviledges. 20 yrs ago i interviewed him while he was simi mayoras we exited, people were handed a card (maybe 2x8") with the presidential seal and a thanks for coming to honor the life of ronald wilson reaganpeople were quickly shuffled back onto the shuttles and we were off.
monday, once on a bus, people weren't off a bus more than 10 minutes.
transcribed notes & observations
3-5,000 people in line at the remote site from where viewers were shuttled when i got there about 1:30pm monday. line took about an hr and 3/4, about 45 mins to get back. by that time the line could have been 10,000, but was impossible to see the end of.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
spent most my time talking w/ a family vacationing (tour of ballparks) from minnesota, the dad had voted for mondale--thinking mondale would have been better for minnesota than reaganspending the day doing my best trying to keep my politics to myself, i didn't share w/ him the speculation upon the odds of 2 mondale voters standing side-by-side in that line.coincidentally they had been to the nixon library saturday. mom had asked about the enemies list ... docents acted as if they'd never heard of such a thing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
i spent the day avoiding tv cameras, lest someone ask me what i thought about the guy. tho i had an answer prepared ("mom said, if you can't say something nice....") still for some reason, i had 2 tv reporters stick a camera toward me. i had to vigorously shake my head and look away, giving any number of the the crowd who were anxious to get facetime the chance.1st time, the family of minnesotans in front of me were interviewed. next, a kid a couple people behind me was interviewed: kid aged 12 waxed on about the 'great man.' interviewer pointed out he'd have no personal recollection, yes? wax off.another up the row, stuck his face to an ABC affiliate's camera just to tell them he didn't want to talk to them "since ABC didn't have anything good to say about him when he was alive" .... ? this was a guy in a hole-sick 9/11 t-shirt untucked over his belly and short pants.
there were plenty who dressed up for the event. sadly much of that proved that there is little things a man can do to look sillier than to wear nice clothes --suits, shirts, slacks --- that they obviously hadn't worn in a long long long timeclearly a nostaglia vibe, one family going so far to be dressed in vintage clothes (aged mid 30s w/ preteen daughter & dressed in psuedo 1940s clothes -- dad's being a too small felt fedora [LA daytime?!?!] and a too small black sportcoat and black slacks [not a suit, different colors black]; mom in a period dress, very stylish-- with all sorts of folks having a pin or button or hat or shirt or jacket that heralded back to some Americana connection -- military mainly -- or GOP election or nominating convention.
mainly it was t-shirts emblazoned w/ bits of americana. one woman wore a shirt printed in the manner of the 'got milk?' campaign. "got land?" it said on the front, the obverse: "thank an indian"
~~~~~~~~~~~~
cops of every flavor, reserves most likely: LA & ventura county sheriffs; simi & moorpark & LA city police; CHP; ... on each bus, at almost every intersection, w/ mototcycle cops escorting busses early on, tho later not. probably too many busses to escort each.
metal detectors and no cameras allowed, no cell cameras allowed. they allowed cell fones but only if turned off. no radios. only small purses, diaper bags were the only large bags let through.circulated in line, vague descriptions of the rules caused a lot of confusion by the time people got to the frontdepending where you were in line, you got a bagged copy of sunday's LA times, the ventura county star, or 7oz bottles water, or all 3, depending.
the radio was saying there'd be no picture taking inside the viewing area and only small camera bags. once in line a handout said no camera bags. once you got to the front of the line, they said no cameras at all. the family front of me panicked and dad ran off and stashed their camera in the bushes
and no large bags. yet the bagged copy of the newspapers were ok, the bottled water was not.
i had forgotten that i had a Leatherman utility tool (like a swiss army knife) that i always carry. i got to the front of the line and asked them to stash it with the other stuff others had stashed there. the guards said: we can't guarantee it; i said: there are no guarantees, i trust you; they said: it's not us, it's the others... i looked around and behind the tables and barricades, uniforms outnumbered the civilians about 20:1.... what others?
when i got back, there was a line of a few people trying to retrieve the items they had dumped in the pile behind the barricade. 2 senior citizens were hoping to get back a wallet, yes a wallet. i don't know why they'd have to give up a wallet. they described it and the guy (extraordinarily tall w/ a face like a cartoon character dog, 6-7 250lbs) came back apologetically saying he can't believe any of his guys would throw it away, maybe by accident, but he couldn't account for it not being there. they started to wade through the trash cans, overfilled w/ 1/2ful water bottles.
i described by utility knife "like a swiss army knife,'' using my hands to mime its size and the opening unfolding action ''it's orange." his head tilted in a cartoon dog kinda way, "metallic orange not day-glo orange" ... nothing... "like a boat" and he's off to find it, squats in front of the pile and stands and comes right back
"do you know how many orange knives there are?"
... "uhhhh no idea"...
"what's printed on the side?"
.... "leatherman" ...
"what's printed on the other side?"
.... (i didn't remember) "i don't remember" (juice, the model) ...
he dropped in my hand, saying "that's nice, i like that."
... "me too, that's why i wanted it back."
on my way back to the car, i could see a dozen cameras stashed among the bushes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
there were buses from various transit districts lined up, and charter buses, all called into service to shuttle people the few miles to the library.
thru-out LA, maybe elsewhere too i dunno, buses are covered with adverts for this coming weekend's season debut of the HBO series "six feet under" with taglines like "every day above ground is a good one" and "some day we'll all be six feet under"those buses, of course, had those ads on them as they shuttled viewers to the library at back to moorpark college
~~~~~~~~~
insane behavior on the freeway getting there:
a few miles from the offramp the line of cars was on the shoulder, leaving the 2 lanes of the freeway open. (pritdarn unusual action for an LA-area fwy) considering the 1,000s of cars it was an astonishinly well-behaved row of cars... all-in-all... it was funny to watch folks w/ plastic fish on their rear bumpers cutting into the miles-long line and blocking the freeway for others on the roadway
a surprisingly few locals knew to head to the next offramp and head back on surface streets, or to come in from the other direction.
tho the library officials have announced the extension of hrs for viewing (from 6 til 10pm tuesday) they said you had to be in line by 3pm. unless that line included the line of cars there were gonna be scads of angry mourners
~~~~~~~~
newsradio during the walking pace drive up the hill to moorpark college had a report that began with the diversity of the crowd waiting for the shuttles to the library: infants to teens to adults to senior citizens, blacks & whites & asians & latinos have all come to pay their respects to the former president .... etc.
when i got there monday, and during the about 3 hrs i was on site, in my best guess based on nothing more than my observations, there were not 20 african americans in line (plenty in uniforms, working) and people under age 55 were probably in the lowest 30 percentile (not counting those in uniforms, working) and most of them were among families w/ more aged members.
the mood of people was generally subdued but hardly funerary... at least until we reached the library, and then only specifically in the room of the viewing. even the press fotogs, on a raised platform off to the side made no chatter between them. they were shooting a lot, they must have had only a few minutes in there before they were rotated out to the herd cordoned off in the media village that always accompanies big events these days. the major difference being there was no comingling of press and people at the library site.
~~~~~~~~~~
the honor guard was unearthly still. wax figures couldn't have been so stationary. the soldier from the army, was actually blinking. the marine had his eyes shut -- as if in deep concentration "please don't let me move, please don't let me move, please don't let me move, please don't let me move"the flag on the casket had more life than the honor guardthe flow of people was moving consistently at a saunter, you had no more than maybe 45 seconds in the room for the viewing.
i had been in line, on a bus, in line again for about 2 1/2 hrs and just as i'm entering the viewing room, a woman staff member asks if i'd mind if some local officials can step in... it's US congressman elton gallegly & wife and i guess his daughter & husband. congress has its priviledges. 20 yrs ago i interviewed him while he was simi mayoras we exited, people were handed a card (maybe 2x8") with the presidential seal and a thanks for coming to honor the life of ronald wilson reaganpeople were quickly shuffled back onto the shuttles and we were off.
monday, once on a bus, people weren't off a bus more than 10 minutes.
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